Road Accident In-Depth Studies v1.0 (RAIDS) 2022 Extension

• Research type

  Research Database

• IRAS ID

  312233

• Contact name

  Phil Earl

• Contact email

  Phil.Earl@dft.gov.uk

• Research summary

  Road Accident In-Depth Studies (RAIDS)

• REC name

  London - South East Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  23/LO/0059

• Date of REC Opinion

  13 Feb 2023

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion

• Data collection arrangements

  Data storage includes:
  • Anonymous injury and vehicle information
  • Vehicle damage measurements, including interior cabin intrusion and contact points associated with injuries
  • The type and performance of restraint systems fitted to the vehicle
  • The performance and effectiveness of primary safety systems such as vision, lighting, braking and tyres
  • Anonymous vehicle and scene photographs and measurements
  • Environmental conditions such as weather, lighting and visibility
  • Human factors data such as restraint use, speed of travel, alcohol or drug consumption

  Collision data from the vehicle and the scene are collected by dedicated Collision Investigation Team at the Transport Research Laboratory. Anonymous injury information is collected through collaborations with local hospitals. Access to the data for research is subject to strict controls administered by the Department for Transport on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport.
  

• Research programme

  RAIDS investigates real-life road traffic collisions to understand road user injury causation. The objective is to support research that will reduce the risk of injury or death in road traffic collisions. In each investigation, a detailed examination of a collision-damaged vehicle is correlated with the injuries to the occupants. This provides an insight into how people are injured in car crashes. Analysis of this data provides a unique insight into how vehicle structures, restraints and advanced safety systems influence injury risk. This real-world injury and vehicle information supports a wide range of research and provides the foundation for improvements in vehicle safety leading to a reduction in the risk of injury. The data also supports research into new vehicle safety systems that help prevent crashes, or reduce the severity of a crash that cannot be prevented. Both of these also reduce the risk and severity of injury for people travelling on the roads. RAIDS facilitates a medical-engineering link that will inform road safety policy and injury reduction strategies. This will reduce the healthcare burden of road traffic collisions, which will free-up resources that can be used to improve treatment and patient care elsewhere in the health system.

• Research database title

  Road Accident In-Depth Studies (RAIDS)

• Establishment organisation

  Department for Transport

• Establishment organisation address

  Great Minster House

  33 Horseferry Road

  London

  SW1P 4DR